


Times Past

by bornforwar_archivist



Category: Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-31
Updated: 2006-12-31
Packaged: 2018-11-18 09:34:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11288541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bornforwar_archivist/pseuds/bornforwar_archivist
Summary: By AliciaAres has been waiting to find Xena's new body for thousands of years...





	Times Past

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Delenn, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Born For War](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Born_For_War), which closed in 2015. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in March 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Born For War collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/bornforwar).  
> \---  
> Rating: NC-17
> 
> Summary: Ares has been waiting to find Xena's new body for thousands of years...
> 
> Disclaimer: There's no way in Tartarus that I own them, Baby!

**ustin , Texas  1996**

What does one say to a girl on her twenty-third birthday?

What does the God of War say to a girl on her twenty-third birthday?

Come to think of it, what does the God of War say to a girl who has just celebrated her twenty-third birthday, whom he's never met, but knows to be the reincarnated soul of his beloved Warrior Princess???

Ares looked at himself in the mirror.  He looked like any other mortal, he lived in a regular - and paid for - apartment in Austin, Texas and for the first time in two thousand years, he wasn't waiting.  No, this time, someone was waiting for him and her name was Evangeline...Eva for short.

In the millennia that had passed, Ares had searched the globe and beyond for the vessel that held his Xena.  It had been a cold, snowy day so long ago when the Fates had exacted their revenge on him.  When he had placed Xena in that cave on Mt. Etna, he'd grieved for her.  It hadn't been for a month, nor a year, it had been eternal.  Twenty-five years had passed before he had learned the truth, that Xena had, yet again, set out to deceive him, but this time, it had backfired on her.  Ares was glad that she'd never had the opportunity to find out that the Gods had played her for a fool for the last time.

 _Oh, the webs we weave, when first we practice to deceive_... he mentally chuckled.  Not long after he'd been informed that the Fates encouragement and misleading words to Xena had forced her hand toward death, Ares had isolated himself from Olympus, self-imposed exile.  He had already spent countless millennia doing their bidding as the God of War and precious little had it rewarded him.  No, he had gone out on his own and had taken Olympus ' defenses with him.

It wasn't long before he'd discovered that Livia, the girl he'd made Rome's Empress and champion was Xena's beloved Eve.  He hadn't cared, though.  He had left her hanging, only for her to become vulnerable to Augustus Caesar's loving care, forcing her to see the light...and become the sword of Olympus ' destruction.

Ares hadn't been able to care either way at the loss of his family.  Only he, Aphrodite, Cupid and Psyche were left and only because they stayed out of everyone's way.  They were no harm to "God's" reign, save for the few believers that remained on Earth, but the other three took care of those.  The God of War had more important things to do, such as finding Xena when she returned to this life in her new body...

He had been shocked and dismayed to discover nothing of her in the millennia that followed her demise.  There had been no trace of her soul, save for the few minutes that had passed when a young woman had prematurely delivered a baby girl in Eire, now Ireland, in 972 AD.  Ares had transported himself there as he felt Xena's soul enter the world...then had stood by helplessly as both mother and daughter had slipped away in death.  The child had been so perfect in her innocence that he had been unable to tear his gaze from her for hours.  Yet another chance to be with her had died.

Ares had learned not to be so trusting with the arrival of new life.  He had sworn to himself that the next time she was reborn, he would not go near her, or even look in on her until such time that she was independent.  That way, he wouldn't have to endure another disappointment...

His hopes had soared in 1973, when a girl child had been born in France.  Xena's soul had returned to him, but he'd quickly squelched any and all of his dreams.

Until now.  In fifteen minutes, he was due to meet Eva Martine in one of Austin 's best French restaurants.

Ares had inserted himself into the life of one of Eva's best friends who wanted to set her up with a man.  Of course, he'd had to disguise himself and appear younger than his usual appearance.  His name was Ares, named after the famed God of War (his mother had had a thing for the old ways), he was a twenty-eight year old fifth generation American and he owned a computer software company.  The part about owning the software company was true.  Both he and Psyche had built up an impressive business portfolio over the years, as had Aphrodite and Cupid with modeling.

As Ares exited the apartment, still trying to straighten his tie, he silently sent a prayer to his sister, Aphrodite, begging her to let everything go smoothly.

*~*~*

Eva sat inside the restaurant patiently.  She really didn't like blind dates, but Mel had told her that she'd love Ares.  What kind of a name was 'Ares' anyway?  Eva figured that all she had to do was show up and have dinner.  There was no obligation to see him again after tonight...

"Mmm..."  Now, _that_ guy, she wanted to keep locked up in her bedroom...

Eva stared at the man who had just entered the restaurant.  He was hot with a capital H.  There was a ruggedness about him that was magnetic and Eva wasn't one to resist.  The girl groaned, wishing that it was he who was her blind date, but from Mel's description, she was looking forward to a night with computer geek central.

She turned away, not wanting to see the man's date, knowing that the woman was probably gorgeous and curved in all of the right places.  Eva didn't chide herself about how she looked, she knew that men were drawn to her, but she also knew that she wasn't what today's society would dub 'beautiful'.

Eva couldn't help her surprise when a hand cupped her shoulder.  She turned around, expecting to see the 'geek' as she'd nicknamed him, but was greeted by the sight of the man she'd seen only seconds before, smiling down at her.  "Evangeline Martine?" he questioned.

Her eyebrows rose in shock.  " _You're_ Ares Goddard?"

He grinned.  "Surprised?" he asked as he took his seat opposite her.

"Definitely..."

*~*~*

**Austin , Texas 2001**

Ares felt the empty space beside him, his brow furrowing.  He was still half-asleep and Eva's side of the bed was cold and empty.  His arm moved slowly, unconsciously searching for her familiar warmth.  When it registered that it was nowhere to be found, the God of War finally began to rouse.

He turned over onto his back then sat up.  Eva was nowhere to be seen.  Ares began to worry.  For the last few nights, he'd awoken to an empty bed in the early hours of the morning, only to find Eva standing naked by the window, staring up at the moon.  He had gotten up and held her from behind, curling his arms around her middle and gently holding her hands in his while nuzzling her neck.  They hadn't spoken, but he'd known that something had been troubling her and just like her previous life, she wasn't one to confide her problems until she was good and ready.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Ares saw the feint light under the door leading to the en suite.  He got out of bed and softly knocked on the door.  "Eva?  Are you all right, princess?"

He heard a muffled, "Yes," and decided to wait for her in bed.  She'd be out in her own sweet time.  He got back under the covers, dimly noticing the chill in the air, brought on by the first stirrings of winter.

He and Eva had been together for almost five years now.  They had spent two months dating before Eva had finally admitted that Mel had been right in setting them up.  They had discussed where the relationship was headed and what they expected of one another.  Eva had been a surprise.  Even though she was only twenty-three, she had told him that she was looking for a long-term partner.  If they were to move their relationship to the next level, then she had wanted him to know that she was emotionally involved and it wouldn't be inconsequential to her.

Ares had been in agreement, after all he had a large stake in it all, one that Eva still didn't know about.  He had searched for thousands of years, he wasn't about to let her go now.  A few dates later, they had fallen into bed.  Technically speaking, though, they had fallen onto his couch, then the floor.  After a few hours of exploring each other's bodies in front of the warm fire, they had finally made it to his king-size bed.

That had been the sweetest experience of Ares' immortal life in over two thousand years.  After yet another six months of conflicting schedules and miscellaneous problems, they had finally decided to move in together.  It had taken another three months on top of that for them to organize a house that they both loved as well as sorting out work-related problems like getting time off to move and such.

In the end, it had been worth it.  They now shared a medium-sized home, furnished with furniture they had chosen together before moving in as well as owning a small cabin in Colorado that they vacationed in every chance they got.  They even had a dog.

Strangely, though, they never argued.  They were always in complete agreement, whether it was what kind of restaurant they wanted to go to on a Saturday night, or what new purchase they wanted to make.  Ares had been stunned when he realized a year into their life together, that they hadn't argued once.  He'd expected more of Xena to show up in her personality.

Ares had come to realize that Eva was completely different to Xena, but he loved her as much as he had done when she had been his Warrior Princess.  Where Xena had been hard and unyielding, Eva was accepting.  Ares had put it down to their different backgrounds.  Eva had been the product of a dysfunctional family, but she'd never experienced or dealt with death, unlike Xena.  One thing that he had noticed about Eva, though, was her undying loyalty and strength.  In that respect, she hadn't changed, and this time around, her loyalty lay with him, not some blond bard from Greece .

*~*~*

Eva sat on the small stool next to the spa.  It reminded her of when she took a bath and more often than not, Ares would come into the bathroom and sit on the stool and just watch as she washed her hair and shaved her legs.  Sometimes, he would even help her with her hair or wash her back when she was too tired to do it herself.

She was so lucky to have Ares, she knew.  Five years ago, she hadn't dreamed that the perfect man for her was just a blind date away.  Her life was almost perfect now.

 _Almost_... she thought sadly, as a lone tear slipped down her cheek.

Evangeline Martine was sick.  Her specialist had told her that she only had another three months or so.  There was a tumor growing inside her head, but she couldn't tell Ares.  She didn't want to have to see the love in his eyes become tinged with pain.  Eva loved him more than anything, as she knew that he loved her.  She wanted to spare him the pain of knowing that while she looked fine, inside her body, a war was raging.

There was no question of him staying with her until the end, because she knew that Ares would take time off work and spend every last moment she had by her side.  Already, she knew that Ares was growing more and more concerned with each day that passed.  Eva would awaken in the middle of the night and leave their bed, trying to escape the dreams and hallucinations that came when she was near sleep.  And each night, as she thought about those dreams, Ares would come awake, instinctively knowing that she was no longer in bed with him.

Now, everything was so much worse.  Her regular check-up with her local doctor revealed that she was pregnant.  Eva held her head in her hands.  She couldn't handle the thought of dumping it all on Ares.  Not only would she be depriving him of the woman that he adored,  she would also be depriving him of the child they had always wanted.

She closed her eyes as her grief got the better of her.  A sob managed to escape her throat, paving the way for the onslaught of tears...

*~*~*

Ares stared at the closed door of the en suite.  He could hear the dull sobs through the wood door that barred his view of his lover.  But knowing her the way he did, Ares stayed in the bed and waited for Eva to let her emotional turmoil run its course and then return to him.

*~*~*

Half an hour later, Eva shakily stood up and looked at her reflection in the mirror.  Her eyes were swollen from her tears, and even the hair that she prided herself on looked flat and dull.  Even to her own eyes, her body looked tired and fragile.  She silently asked herself if she'd looked that way for the past four months, ever since she'd been told that she had an inoperable tumor.  She wondered why Ares would still want her...

Eva turned from the less-than-flattering reflection and turned off the light.  She slowly opened the door and crossed to the bed she shared with Ares with only the moonlight peeking through the window and between the closed curtains to light her way.

She pulled back the cover far enough to slip herself back into bed, hoping not to disturb Ares.  Eva should have known better, but in her emotional state...well, she should have known that Ares would wait until she came back to bed, just to make sure everything was all right.

Eva turned onto her side, facing away from her lover and toward the curtained window.  Her gaze was unfocused, her thoughts consuming her.  She felt the tender touch of Ares' strong hands encircling her from behind.  One hand comfortably resting against her belly, while the other stroked her hair out of her face.

"Are you okay?" he whispered softly as he pressed a gentle kiss to her neck.

Eva nodded slowly, her throat still raw from her sobs.

"Eva, I know there's something wrong.  Please don't shut me out..." Ares murmured.

She tried to physically shrug off his concern, not wanting to break down again.

He stilled.  "Is it me?"  he asked grimly.  "Have I done something to upset you?  Just tell me what it is and I'll - "

Eva immediately turned over and faced him, pressing her index finger to his lips and silencing him.  She swallowed before trying to speak.  "No. You've done nothing wrong.  These past few years have been the best of my life.  I don't even want to think of what my life would have been like had I never met you."  Eva sighed sadly.  "There's just a couple of things that I need to deal with.  Just know that when the time is right, I'll tell you everything."

Ares gazed into her hazel eyes as if trying to gauge the truth in her words.  After a few seconds, he touched his lips to her.  "I love you," he told her seriously.

She smiled sadly.  "I love you, too.  Never forget how much..."  Eva snuggled deeper into his embrace, savoring the feel of him, knowing that soon, everything would be torn apart.  "Never forget..." she murmured again as her body slowly relaxed, preparing her for sleep.

Ares continued to absently stroke her hair in a soothing manner long after she'd fallen asleep.  He stayed awake long into the early hours of the morning, just staring into space, wondering just what it was that kept his princess awake at night...

*~*~*

**A Few Days Later**

Eva bit her lower lip to stop its trembling as she entered the building.  She looked around nervously at the people who were lined up outside condemning her existence to eternal torment because of her destination.  A hysterical sob escaped her throat.  _If only they knew..._

This wasn't really her choice.  She didn't want to step inside those electronic doors, but there was no other way.  She blocked out the crowd's insults and went into the clinic, but inside, her heart was breaking.

She looked around nervously.  When Eva saw the receptionist, she slowly crossed over to her.  It took a couple of tries for her to clear her throat enough to speak.  "My name is Evangeline Martine and I'm here to see Dr Stanton," she told the older woman sadly.

Diana Robertson regarded the young woman in front of her.  Evangeline Martine was deeply troubled with being in the clinic. She'd seen the type before.  Usually they were young teens being forced by their parents or boyfriends to give up their unborn child, but Diana got the impression that that wasn't the case here.

"She's with someone at the moment, but she should be with you in a few minutes," Diana told Eva.

Eva smiled gently and then sat down in one of the chairs that lined the wall.  She looked around the waiting room.  Thankfully, she was the only patient there.  Patient.   Tears came to Eva's eyes as it hit her.  She was in an abortion clinic...

Never in her life had she thought she'd ever enter one, let alone have an abortion.  Eva unseeingly stared at the floor and waited, lost in her own despair at what she was about to do...

"Ms Martine?  Evangeline?"

Eva looked up to see the receptionist standing over her.  "The doctor will see you now," she said.

Eva stood slowly and followed the other woman, keeping her eyes glued to the floor.  She was shocked when she ran into a hard and unyielding chest.  She mumbled an apology, but kept on moving.  Usually she was never that rude, but she wasn't in the mood for anything but her depression.

She felt a hand grab her arm.  Eva turned around to see Ares standing there.  All color left her face as she realized just where they were.  "What are you doing here, Ares?"

He frowned as he looked around at the posters stuck on the walls.  "I was redesigning the clinic's computer database, but I think that a more appropriate question, my dear, is: what are _you_ doing here?"

Eva gazed up into his confused eyes and burst into tears.  "Eva??"  She felt Ares tenderly take her into his comforting embrace, but she was far from comforted.  With each soft murmur of love and understanding that left his lips, she felt more and more like she had betrayed him.

"Ms Martine?"

Both she and Ares paused long enough to turn to see the receptionist and the doctor standing there.

"Is there a problem?" Dr Stanton asked.  She took one look at Eva's tear-stained face and Ares' hard expression and assessed the situation.  They often treated patients with men in their lives who forced them to have a child that they didn't want, but Rebekah Stanton hadn't thought that Eva could be pressured into anything.  "Should I call security?"

Eva shook her head.  "Is there somewhere that Ares and I can talk in private?"

Rebekah smiled gently.  "Why don't the both of you come into my office and we can all talk about this.  My next appointment isn't until after lunch."

Ares looked at Eva, who nodded.  The couple followed Dr Stanton as she led the way.  The doctor took her seat as Ares and Eva sat across from her.  She was silent as the two people in front of her kept from looking at the other.

"So, you're pregnant..." Ares began, his voice void of emotion.

"Yes," Xena replied.

"...and you want to have an abortion."  Ares finally turned to her.  "Eva, I thought that both of us wanted children, not just me, I - "

"No!"  she cut him off.

Rebekah watched the couple interact.  She saw Ares stiffen at Eva's denial.

"You don't want my baby?" he asked in a resigned tone.

Eva burst into tears again.  Ares couldn't bear her pain any longer.  He put his arms around her and stroked her hair as she continued to cry.  "It's okay, princess.  If you don't want to have a baby, then you don't have to have a baby.  We can talk to the doctor here and then we can forget that any of this ever happened...we'll just go home and go back to our lives..."

Rebekah watched sadly as the father of Eva's baby closed his eyes.  She had seen the pain in them as he told Eva that he was willing to go through with it if that was her wish.

"I don't want to have an abortion!"  Eva couldn't stand it any longer.  She could feel his pain and hated that she was the one to cause it.  _How did I ever end up with a man as loving and supportive as Ares...?_

Ares got out of his chair and knelt down in front of her, taking her hands in his.  "Then why are you here, Eva?  Why are you here??"

"I can't have our baby, Ares.  _Can't_ not _won't_ ," she whispered.  "I want our child more than anything..."

Ares held her closer.  "You physically can't have our baby?"

Eva nodded into his shoulder.  "I'm sick."  She took a deep breath and tightened her grip on his tear-stained shirt.  "By the time the baby is born, I would have already been dead four or five months..."

"No..." he murmured, shaking his head slightly.

Eva began sobbing again.  "I'm sorry...please Ares...I'm so sorry I didn't tell you before...I have a brain tumor..."

Ares regained control of himself before he broke down crying, too.  "No, I'm not going to lose you again.  Not this time."  This wasn't beyond him, he could do something...he hoped.  He took her hands and helped her up.  "Come on."

Eva followed obediently.  "But there's nothing that you can do, Ares..."

He placed a finger against her lips.  "Don't worry, princess."  He turned to the doctor.  "We're sorry to have wasted you time, Dr Stanton, but there are a few things I want to get sorted out first."

Rebekah nodded her understanding.  She honestly hoped that things would work out for these two. She couldn't see how, but she could hope.

Ares kept an arm around Eva as he led her out to his car.  "Come on, sweetheart, there's someone I think you should meet..."

*~*~*

Eva sat in the passenger side of the car silently.  She dared not look at Ares for fear of what she might see in his eyes.  One thing was sure, though.  It couldn't be any worse than what she believed of herself.

"You could have come to me, princess..." Ares' soft tone broke the silence.

"I'm sorry," she whispered brokenly.  The tears were still fresh on her cheeks and she continued to gaze unseeingly out of the window.

Eva felt his warm hand stroke her thigh.  The gesture, meant to be one of comfort, only served to feed the guilt that was eating away at her.  "We'll get through this, sweetheart.  There's no way that I'm going to let death take you away from me again..."

She didn't even try to decipher the hidden meaning of his words, but instead decided to humor him.  It would keep him occupied until the day that it hit him that there was no way of helping her.  She loved him more than words could say, and she adored him all the more for trying to find a way around the impossible.

*~*~*

"We're here, princess," Ares told her.

Eva finally took stock of her surroundings. They were parked in front of an extremely tall building that cited 'Goddard Enterprises' on the double doors. This was Ares' company. She was a little bemused to realize that even though they had been a couple for a good, solid five years, this was the first time she had visited his headquarters.

She didn't know what he hoped to accomplish by bringing her here, but she was glad to finally be sharing this part of his life. Ares had opened the car door for her while she had been lost in thought. She smiled up at him gently as he held her hand and helped her out. He then kept her hand firmly in his and led her into the building.

"Ares, it's absolutely...businesslike," was all she could come up with as she took note of the ultra-modern floors, walls and high ceiling. It was also hard to ignore the numerous heads that swung in her direction as the people behind the high reception desk noticed her and Ares' entrance.

"Mr Goddard, sir! I-" began one of the young gentlemen, only to be greeted with a sad smile and a hand-signal that told him not-right-now.

Without pausing, Ares led Eva to the lift area and called over his shoulder, "Unless it is _literally_ a matter of life and death, Morgan, it can wait until tomorrow, and have Marie cancel all of my appointments for the next week."

"Ares..."

The ping of the lift interrupted her train of thought. Ares shook his head and pressed a kiss to her temple before leading her into the lift. "No, Eva. Nothing interferes with us, _or_ your health."

She let out a gentle, sigh. "I'm glad you know, Ares. I just couldn't stand the thought of telling you that I was pregnant, yet in the same breath, also tell you that I was going to die before I came to term. God, I don't know what to do anymore..."

Ares swiped an identification card into the panel inside the lift and pressed the button for the top floor. He then turned back to Eva and cupped her cheek with his free hand. "You're not alone any longer, Eva. There's no reason to get worked up until you explore a few other options that you're going to be presented with. I'm just glad I caught you before you were able to do anything drastic."

He could see the tears gathering in her eyes. "No. Don't for a moment think that I blame you for this, or for what _could_ have happened had I not been there today. I just want you to keep an open mind and know that whatever happens, I will love you until the end of time."

Had she been any other woman, Eva knew that she would have burst into tears then and there, but she was who she was, so she settled for stepping into her lover's embrace and leaning on him for strength and warmth. She heard the lift doors open and was content to keep her hand firmly clasped in his as she followed him into an office that held his name on the door, along with the title of President.

What she hadn't been prepared for, however, was the blown-up picture of her mounted on the wall directly behind his desk. She remember very well when the photograph had been taken, as well. It had been during the second year of their relationship and they had taken a weekend off to spend some alone time at her family's cabin in Wisconsin. They had spent the warm day having a picnic by a stream a few minutes walk from the cabin and Eva had been drifting off to sleep on the blanket as Ares threw a tennis ball around for their dog, Maggie, to fetch after having packed away all of the scraps and leftovers.

Eva was smiling gently to herself in sleep as the sun kept her warm and the gentle breeze caressed her skin. There was an intrusive click and whirr, pulling her out of sleep and back to awareness. "That hadn't better be the click of a camera shutter that I just heard, Ares," she scolded gently, her eyes still shut.

The man in question laughed. "Of course it is, sweet. You're my favorite subject."

She opened her eyes and sent him a mock glare. "I'm your _only_ subject, that I've noticed."

"Not true," he protested with a smile. "I took a photo of Maggie just the other day."

"Why?" she asked, with a quick roll of her eyes.

The man grinned. "She did something I thought you might have wanted to see and since you were at work, I captured it on film."

Eva looked back on that day three years ago and smiled a proper smile for the first time in weeks. "Is this why all of those heads turned back on the first floor, Ares? Were they finally seeing for themselves that the girl in the photo is real?"

Ares smirked. "At least they haven't seen the one in my private lift, baby," he confided as he led her to a wall panel and quickly turned a small ornament on the bookshelf beside it. The panel was pushed forward and moved aside to reveal Ares' private lift, and a rather large, revealing portrait of the object of his affections.

"When on Earth?" she half-asked in shock. The photograph covered the top half of one side of the lift and was a very clear shot of her in their bed, clearly sleeping, with her completely naked, save for the satin bed sheet that managed to cover her lower body. However, her breasts were clearly visible peaking out from behind her flowing mane of kohl-black hair.

Her lover tenderly ran his fingertips over the magnificent piece. "A part of my very private collection of photographs. You're the only person, besides me, who has ever, or will ever, use this lift, Eva. You wouldn't believe how many nights I've come home late because I had to finish work I was supposed to be doing when I was just standing here, basking in the love that we share, and _this_ , my reminder of it.

"You couldn't have just stuck to the mandatory family portrait on the desk?" she laughed nervously, still a little in awe of the way he pictured her. "There aren't any more, are there, Ares?" she questioned, a little afraid of the answer.

He chuckled at her question. "An array of candid photos that could easily qualify as mandatory desk shots litter the surfaces upstairs," he informed her.

"Then why on earth don't you use one of those on your desk?" she asked incredulously.

The lift doors opened to reveal a private living area where, indeed, every surface boasted a regular-sized photograph of her, or the two of them together.

"Because you're more important than that," he smiled as he led her into what could easily be referred to as a penthouse suite, yet looked as if it were created in true harem style. Her gaze glanced over a piece of circular metal that adorned the far wall. Eva shook off the knowledge that she had seen it somewhere before and turned her attention back to the rest of the room. There were tassels, pillows and beautiful silks adorning every inch of the place.  And there, standing right in the middle of it all and only a few steps directly in front of Eva and Ares, were three of the most beautiful people that Eva had ever seen.

"Well, it's not hard to guess who my bro has there," came the giggling voice of the gorgeous, smiling blond.

"Eva, I think that it's about time that you met my family..."

 _Oh, boy..._ she thought.

*~*~*

The five of them were seated comfortably on the lounges in the very center of the room. Eva felt a little out of place, especially since everyone seemed to know all about her, but she had no idea who _they_ were, beyond the fact that they were Ares' family. Okay, yes, she would admit to recognizing the infamous supermodels, Aphrodite and Cupid, but the brunette woman was a mystery to her. Given Ares' mother's devotion to the old way, Eva expected another 'God' name for the woman, though.

"Eva..." her name was a whisper on his lips.

She turned to Ares, who sat by her side, gently enfolding her steady hand in his own and resting it upon his covered knee. There was something else bothering him, she could see. Something that had nothing to do with their baby, or the situation she despairingly found herself in. Eva chose to wait and let him set his pace, confess whatever it was that held him so still.

"There is something that I have kept from you, that my family had kept from everyone. By the Gods..." he whispered. "I don't know how to tell you..."

It was Aphrodite who tried a rescue attempt. "Hey, Ares, let's start from the beginning," she grinned in her bubbly manner. Ares suddenly seemed boneless as the tension left his body and he slumped against the back of the lounge, pulling Eva into her arms and taking her with him.

Eva rested her head on his shoulder and settled her arm on his taut stomach, now watching Aphrodite, who was seated across from her, along with the other two. She then hooked her leg over her lover's to get more comfortable, sensing that this was going to be an entertaining, if not drawn-out, tale.

"Do you believe in reincarnation, sweet-pea?" Aphrodite asked.

Eva glanced from the blond, then to Ares. Did she believe in reincarnation? Most assuredly yes. She hadn't grown up overly religious or anything, but Eva firmly believed in the dreams that she had every now and then that centered around another time and place. They never played out the same, but they always featured familiar faces, with Ares among them. Thinking about it now, Eva realized that Ares' was not the only familiar face. She vaguely recognized the three others in the room. Cupid, Aphrodite and... _who?_ A name was on the tip of her tongue, when suddenly an image popped into her head of a giggling baby with wings floating in the air between a winged Cupid and a woman with long, thick, flowing dark hair. And the name finally came to her.

"Psyche..." she murmured in wonder at her own insight. "Your name is Psyche, isn't it..."

Eva felt Ares suck in a breath while Aphrodite clapped happily. "You remembered!"

"Tell me," she half-commanded.

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "You just don't change..." she sighed. "Okay, here's the deal...you've known us before. You've loved my brother before. It's hard to recall how long it's been, but we've stuck around. We're _exactly_ who you're trying to tell yourself that we're not and it's time that we get to know each other again."

Eva's attention was drawn back to Ares and to the dagger that had hung from his right earlobe for as long as she had known him. Something about it had made her anxious about touching it, but she knew it was time. She was ready. Eva's hand slowly crept up his chest and hovered next to his ear. She held the top of his ear gently between her thumb and forefinger and followed the skin down until she reached the piercing. Eva felt the cool metal warm at her touch and gasped as knowledge washed over her. "The God of War."

Ares held her hand firm against the decoration and pressed his lips against hers as his memories became hers once more.

"And everything that goes with it, sweet pea," Aphrodite nodded mostly to herself as she felt more of Xena's life made itself known to Eva. The Goddess of Love knew the struggle that Xena's old life made against Eva's present one and the love that each incarnation shared with her brother. It was a dangerous thing for them to have done, bringing Eva's past life into the mix the way they were doing, but it was necessary. Xena's mistrust and resentment was fighting to establish itself, but Eva's trust won out.

There were tears in Eva's eyes as she pulled back from her love.

Ares' gaze was gentle as he locked his attention on her. "What's this, sweet?" he questioned, referring to the tears that he was occupied drying from beneath her eyes. "You've been, and _will be,_ my Princess for always. Never forget that. I love you..."

Aphrodite was dabbing her clear blue eyes as Cupid rolled his eyes and shook his head. Psyche, though, was holding back a teary smile.

"I'm glad I know," Eva confessed as she snuggled back into Ares' embrace. "I could feel my loneliness back then. My need for you, but also my fear of your influence over me. I'm glad I've had this chance to know you now - to be able to see that we're both different people. Me, more so than you, but there it is."

Ares was stroking her soft, thick hair. "Eva, you must know that you are everything to me. I've learned my lesson and this time around, I've just taken you as you are...as you were meant to be. And now we're back together, with the only other family I have left. Which brings us to why I really brought you here - "

"Ares, you can't help me," Eva was shaking her head, wanting to burst into tears as she was reminded of her traitorous body.

"That may be true, Princess," Ares conceded, "but Psyche can..."

To Be Continued


End file.
